Classical Studies 2200 Lecture 8: mythes part 1

• School: Western University
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: Classical Studies 2200
• Professor: Aara Suksi

Document Summary

From ancient greek word muthos: a spoken word, utterance, a thing that is said. There was not a form of literacy - did not have a good system to tell stories (only good for lists) For 300 years no form of writing in the greek world. Myths are flexible and change as they are transmitted over time and space. "the function of myths is to express dramatically the ideology under which a society lives; Ideology: concepts which construct a society which we aren"t entirely aware of i. e. greek society patriarchal and built on slavery. Myths reinforce, justify and also challenge cultural values/practices. Myths are way for culture to make sense of the unknown, the inexplicable, and the mysterious i. e. thunder and lightning - zeus being angry. Divine myth: stories about gods and the natural world (i. e. zeus and his lightning bolts) a. b. c. Tends to explain or reflect experience of the natural universe and phenomena.